The Bantams were already trailing by three goals at Wembley when Duke was sent from the field for tripping Jonathan de Guzman in the box.

And Parkinson believes that a yellow card would have proved a sufficient punishment, given that Swansea was already in the ascendency.

"Conceding goals when we did did not help and we had our goalkeeper sent off," he told Radio 5 Live. "I felt the referee could have given him a yellow card.

"At 3-0 down I felt he could have used his common sense, but then they scored the fourth and that was it.

"Everyone watching the game would have felt that was harsh - there was no need to send him off. Were we going to come back and win 5-4? No."

The 45-year-old went on to admit that Bradford had been outclassed by Michael Laudrup's men during Sunday's showpiece.

He added:"I am disappointed obviously. We were not able to make a game of it but Swansea are an outstanding team.

"We found it tough but a lot of Premier League teams find it tough against Swansea."

With Bradford eight points short of a League Two playoff place, Parkinson underlined the importance of his side's focus now returning to their league commitments.

He said: "We will dust ourselves down. We have enjoyed the whole experience and we will go back up to Bradford and enjoy the last 15 league games. We have a chance of promotion so we will make a go of it."